Physical abuse of prisoners by guards remains another chronic problem. Some countries
continue to permit corporal punishment and the routine use of leg irons, fetters, shackles,
and chains. The heavy bar fetters turn simple movements such as walking into painful
ordeals. In many prison systems, unwarranted beatings are so common as to be an integral
part of prison life. While violence is a factor in some penal facilities, diseases, often the
predictable result of overcrowding, malnutrition, unhygienic conditions, and lack of medical
care, remain the most common cause of death in prisons. Food shortages in some prisons,
combined with extreme overcrowding, create ideal conditions for the spread of
communicable diseases.
In Africa where the penal systems were largely inherited from the colonial powers, the
institutional and legislative framework, as well as the infrastructure, remains largely unaltered.
Although attempts have been made in some countries to improve conditions of prisons and
other places of detention, in most cases they are still inadequate.
Prisons and conditions of detention of offenders represent one of the most challenging areas
in the field of human rights protection in Africa. The continent has not been able to come
up with a blueprint on how to tackle the ever-growing problem of prison overcrowding,
inmate abuse, poor sanitation, prison deaths, hunger strikes, etc. The first ever Pan-African
Seminar on Prison Conditions in Africa was held in Kampala, Uganda as recently as 1996. The
Conference was possibly the first occasion for Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs)
and government representatives from different countries in Africa to come together to
discuss penal issues on the continent. The more than 140 participants who attended the
Conference unanimously adopted the Kampala Declaration on Prison Conditions in Africa. Seven
years since the adoption of the Declaration, the continent is yet to see an improvement in
the treatment of offenders.
In many countries, the high levels of official secrecy that made prisoner numbers impossible
to determine are equally effective in cutting off information about even the most egregious
prison abuses. By barring human rights groups, journalists, and other outside observers
access to their penal facilities, prison officials seek to shield substandard conditions from
critical scrutiny. Places of detention or incarceration remain largely impermeable to the
outside world. Inaccessibility and lack of accountability, coupled with indifference of the
public towards prisoners lead to gross violation of prisoners’ human rights.
In most cases, human rights organisations pay too much attention to the rights of prisoners
and conditions of detention and pay no heed to the situation of the people who deal with
detained persons - from the arresting officer through the magistrate to the prison authorities.
The lack of human rights understanding by all the law enforcement officers have a lot to do
with the treatment of prisoners and other detainees. Prison authorities who spend most of
the time with prisoners must be acquainted with the human rights instruments on the
treatment of persons deprived of their liberty. Perhaps, until this is done, the conditions of
prisoners and other detainees in Africa will remain dreadful.
3
Special Rapporteur on Prisons
Mission to South Africa
14 – 30 June 2004